5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting my Small, UK Jewellery Business on Etsy
As I begin to write this, my head is whirling with ideas, with things that I need to tell you and, herein lies the first discovery during my jewellery business journey:
It takes over!
Now, the first thing that you really need to know is that I do actually have an obsessive personality! NO JOKE! When I start something, I’m all in, to the exclusion of everything else…..just ask my family lol
This is no different.
When I first discovered beads, it was through my planners. I’m a Filofax Malden girl. I’ve tried other planners/journals and they have all had their good points, they’ve worked for a while but I’ve always come back to my Filofax.
I wanted to have a pretty planner, something that I wanted to pick up…..enter charms.
I started working with wire and beads and fell in love. I’ve actually never thought of myself as a creative person but, herein lies the first lesson…..EVERYONE IS CREATIVE! Yep, you read right. Everyone is creative, you just need to find out what works for you. For me, it’s wire and beads.
Next thing I know, I’ve got hoards of beads and all sizes of wire which leads me on, very nicely, to the next thing that I wish I’d known….
It’s addictive
Now, it might just be my obsessive personality but I still wish I’d known beforehand!
I now have thousands of beads! Yep! Literally thousands! I found myself making chunky charms non-stop. I loved the way they looked, the tactile feel, and the noise they make as they move when attached to my Filofax and, luckily, so do a lot of the members of the planning community!
But, does this make a successful jewellery business on Etsy? Well, compared to some, yes but, compared to others NO! The reality of it is, can you make a living from this one product line? For me, the answer to this question is NO and it leads on to the next thing I wish I’d known before I started my jewellery business…
It’s not enough to just create
There is so much to do! I honestly thought, naively so, that you made it, listed it and it sold! Why I thought this I really don’t know, it’s not like I haven’t run businesses before!
Etsy is a real minefield. Firstly there are the charges. Now there are definitely 2 camps here. Those that accept them and pay and those that object enormously and go elsewhere.
Now, herein lies my first bit of advice. Whatever way you decide to sell your creations, there will be charges. This topic is bound to upset some people but, you know what? That’s ok. This is my opinion and, as we all know, everyone is entitled to have an opinion and this is mine.
Yes, there are a lot of charges but, for me, at this time, what I get for those charges is worth it. I do have my own website, obviously as you’re reading this post on it! However, the thought of setting up a full-fledged eCommerce site actually terrifies me. It’s all the legal stuff that you need to know and do! At this time in my journey, I’m not ready for that.
Then there’s the issue of getting traffic to your site. This takes time and I haven’t found it to be easy. I just don’t have the time to really commit to it at the moment.
Etsy has the traffic. I’m going to repeat this as it’s important…. ETSY HAS THE TRAFFIC. Now, this leads me nicely to the next thing that I wish I’d known before starting my jewellery business….
SEO matters
I’ve spoken to people about this a lot lately in many different situations and, the one question a lot of people ask me is: What is SEO!
Disclaimer: I am not an expert in this subject and nor do I or will I ever claim to be!
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it’s the thing that gets you found. Etsy has the traffic but SEO directs that traffic to your listings.
Is it easy? NO! I’ve now done a couple of courses and I’m still floundering. So much so that I’ve actually just paid to have my shop audited by Claire Reed, The Handmade Business Helper and, herein lies my second piece of advice: ASK FOR HELP!
It’s ok to ask for help – REALLY!
Initially, I thought I could do it by myself. I watched lots of youtube videos, read blogs, signed up for newsletters…how hard could this be?
How wrong was I!!!
There is a wealth of information out there but a lot of it is generic, for obvious reasons! Trying to get it right, by yourself, is really hard! Unless you are already an expert of course and I’m not lol. But, that’s ok. I love to learn and I’m also not too proud to ask for help.
If you want your etsy shop to bring in a significant income, my biggest piece of advice is to consult an expert and really listen to what they say.
I’m really excited for the next stage of my jewellery business journey and I can’t wait to hear how Claire can help me. Am I going to like everything that she says? Probably not but, that’s ok, I’m going to trust in the process and I’m really looking forward to sharing my journey with you.
Until next time
Lyn
